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' FRICTION PULLEY BLOCK. No. 573,739. Patented Dec. 22, 1896'.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. R. WETHERED. FRICTION .PULLEY BLOCK.

No. 573,739. Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

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[finesse UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDW'IN ROBERT \"VETIIERED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

FRICTION PU LLEY-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 57 3,739, datedDecember 22, 1896.

Application filed June 22, 1896. Serial No. 596,535. (No model.)Patented in England A ril 5, 1895, No. 7,052.

To aZZ whom it flung concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN ROBERT WETH- ERED, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at London, England, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Friction Pulley-Blocks, (for which I have obtained apatent in Great Britain, No. 7,052, dated April 5, 1895,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pulley-blocks, and has for itsobject to provide simple and secure means for enabling persons to lowerothers or themselves from the windows of houses in case of necessity,the said pulley-block, however, being also suitable for other loweringpurposes.

According to my invention I form the block of two metal cheeks in theordinary manner, and between these two cheeks I arrange a number ofpulley wheels or sheaves, for example, six, in rows of two each, four ofthe said wheels being fixed to the cheeks by pins on which they rotate,while the other two are mounted on pins which work in slots in thecheeks, so that the said two wheels can rotate and also approach andreeede from one another a distance regulated by the length of the slots.The rope is wound between and around the said pulley-wheels in themanner hereinafter more particularlydescribed. To the ends of one of thecheeks I secure the curved ends of an arm for reversing thepulley-block, which arm extends in front of the other cheek and isprovided with a ring for suspending the pulley-block.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of apulley-block constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectionon the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing thepulley-block in operation. Figs. at and 5 are views showing a methodofsuspending the pulley-block to the sashes of a window, Fig. at alsoillustrating the method by which a person can lower himself.

a a are the two cheeks of the pulley-block, the cheek 0. being madeslightly longer than the cheek a or being provided with end lugs, asshown.

I) Z) are the pulley-wheels, six in number,

and arranged in three rows, with two pulleys in each row.

a c are the pins or spindles on which the said pulleys b are rotatablymounted, the pins of the top and bottom rows being fixed in the cheeks aa, while the pins of the middle row are supported in the slots d d inthe two cheeks, so that the pulleys in the middle row, besides beingable to rotate, can move toward or away from each other.

e is the rope, the said rope being passed through the pulley-block andaround and between the pulley-wheels c c, as shown in Fig. Both ends ofthe rope are provided with a hook f and a belt g, which is attached tothe person to be lowered.

h is the arm, which, as shown, is secured to the two ends of the cheek aby means of curved looped ends h and extends along the other cheek aabout an inch in front of the same. i is a ring on the said arm, whichring, when the pulley-block is in use, is attached to a hook j or to anyothersuitable device, as shown in Fig. 3, and k is a belt permanentlyfitted to the ring 5, which belt is attached to the last persondescending by means of the pulley-block.

The operation of the pulley-block is as follows: The block is suspended,by means of the ring '1", to the hook j, and the person to be lowered issecured to the lower end of the rope by means of the band g, while theperson controlling the descent grasps the rope at the upper end of thepulley-block, as shown in Fig. 3. The weight of the person at the lowerend of the rope and the pull exerted by the person controlling themovement of the rope cause the two middle pulleys to approach each otherand grip the rope between them, so that it is prevented from moving.IVhen, however, the person controlling the descent loosens his hold onthe rope, the middle pulleys move slightly apart, so that the grip onthe rope between them is relaxed and the rope moves downward. When aperson has been lowered and it is desired to lower a second person, thepulley-block is reversed in position by tilting it until the arm 7:.slides through the ring 2', so as to bring the latter into the .loopformed by the arm at the other end of the pulley-block and the short endof the rope at the top of the pulley-block, so that the operation oflowering above described can be repeated.

The loops or eyes 71, at the ends of the arm h are so formed that thepulley-block always faces the same way so that the lowering-rope isalways on the same side of the said pulleyblock.

Then the operator desires to lower himself, he attaches the short end ofthe rope to the wall-hook and himself by the belt is, fitted to the ring'5 of the block, which is then caused by his weight to pass down therope, the descent being controlled by the operator by grasping the freeend of the rope, as shown in Fig. 4.

Instead of suspending my pulley-block to a wall-hook a rope, Fig. 5,maybe passed around one side of the two sashes of the window from whichthe descent is made and the pulleyblock hung on a hook on the end of therope. In Fig. at the upper end of the pulley-block rope is shown passedaround the windowsashes, so that the pulley-block can be used by aperson to control his own descent.

It will be obvious that in using my pulleyblock not only can theoperator use each'endof the rope, as it is provided with a belt forlowering other persons by simply reversing the block, as abovedescribed, but that when the said operator has lowered everybody he cansuspend himself by the belt on the ring 1', which drops to the lower endof the block when the latter is lifted from its suspendinghook.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. In a friction pulley-block, the combina tion with thetwo cheeks, each provided centrally with two slots directly in line witheach other and extending transversely of the checks, of stationarypulleys mounted in said cheeks adjacent to the ends of the same and apair of movable pulleys mounted in said slots, said slots being of suchlength as to permit the pulleys to approach each other to clamp the ropebetween them, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the two cheeks, each provided centrally with twohorizontal slots directly in line with each other, and extendingtransversely of said checks of stationary pulleys at each end of saidcheeks, two movable pulleys mounted in said slots, said slots beingconstructed to allow the pulleys to approach each other to clamp therope between them, the rope engaging said stationary pulleys passingaround the outside of each of said movable pulleys and having a singleportion passing between them, whereby the strain upon the rope will drawsaid movable pulleys toward each other and clamp the rope between them,and suspendingmeans at each end of said cheeks and a belt secured toeach end of said rope, substantially as de scribed.

3; The combination with the pulley-block comprising among its members,the two cheeks, stationary pulleys at each end of said cheeks, movablepulleys intermediate said stationary pulleys constructed to approacheach other closer than the diameter of the rope and devices at each endof said block for suspending the same, of a rope engaging the stationarypulleys and passing between the movable pulleys, and a belt secured toeach end of said rope, and an auxiliary belt secured directly to saidpulley-block, substantially as described.

4. In a pulley-block the combination with the cheeks provided with thepulleys, of asuspending-rod secured to one cheek at one end, passingentirely around the other cheek and secured to the opposite end of thefirstnamed cheek, said rod having portions at each end of the block inline with thespace between the two cheeks and a suspension deviceengaging said rod, substantially as described.

-" EDWVIN ROBERT IVETHERED.

\Vitnesses G. F. REDFERN,

J OHN E. BoUsFIELD.

